Shedeur Sanders is one of the most polarizing athletes ever to grace the football field while playing at Jackson State and Colorado. Even though Sanders was drafted in the fifth round with the 144th pick of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, Sanders should significantly impact the Browns’ roster, similar to how he positively impacted the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes.
Sanders has had a very interesting athletic journey, being the son of Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, and will continue to have one of the most exciting careers to keep an eye on as he begins his life in the NFL. For those of you who don’t know who Shedeur Sanders is, here at TPS, we’ll tell you 15 interesting facts you didn’t know about Sanders.
Here are 15 Interesting Facts you didn’t know about Shedeur Sanders.
Do you know any of these facts about Shedeur Sanders?
Shedeur Sanders maintained a 3.9 GPA in school:
Even though Shedeur Sanders was throwing rockets on the field during his time in high school, Jackson State University, and Colorado University, Sanders was able to maintain a 3.9 GPA throughout his time at Colorado, according to Athlon Sports. Getting school work done is always important, and Shedeur Sanders’ maintaining a near 4.0 GPA should inspire student athletes, no matter what school or college they attend, to always remember hitting the books and getting classwork accomplished.
His father, Deion, also takes pride in Shedeur maintaining a very high GPA by saying, “Shedeur is a leader, Shedeur works man, studies. Kid has a 3.9 GPA. He wants it!” We at TPS say, there’s nothing wrong with a parent being proud of their child’s academic record.
Shedeur Sanders has made music:
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Just like his father, Deion Sanders, back in the 1990s, Shedeur has shown his talents with the microphone as a rapper. Shedeur Sanders released the song “Life” featuring hip hop artists Que and Junior back in February 2025. Sanders also released a song called “Perfect Timing” in May 2024.
Even though Deion’s brief career in music has been largely forgotten, as no one jams out to the Prime Time Album from 1994, Shedeur’s music is very good to listen to. Shedeur Sanders has an interest in making music, and if he ever pursued a hip-hop music career, he would certainly be pretty good at it, if we say so ourselves.
Breaking Multiple records at Colorado:
Even though Shedeur Sanders’ time at Colorado University was only for two years, he managed to break a ton of records as a Colorado Buffalo. Sanders broke over 100 school records and finished third in passing yards, first in passing touchdowns with 37 touchdown passes in 2024.
He finished his career ranked 14th in NCAA Division I (FBS and FCS) with 14,343 yards and is just the second quarterback in history with over 14,000-plus yards while completing over 70 percent of his passes, and has a QBR of 156.01, which ranks eighth most for quarterbacks with 13,000 passing yards. If Sanders becomes the starter for the Cleveland Browns, don’t be surprised if he starts to break some NFL records of his own to add to his legacy.
Shedeur Sanders wasn’t a turnover machine:
During his collegiate years at both Jackson State and Colorado, Shedeur Sanders threw more touchdown passes than interceptions. Sanders completed over 70 percent of his passes throughout his collegiate career. The most interceptions Shedeur Sanders threw in a season were 10 interceptions during his final season with the Colorado Buffaloes in 2024, against 37 touchdown passes.
Shedeur Sanders threw 134 touchdowns against 27 interceptions in his collegiate career at Jackson State and Colorado, which is a lot of touchdown passes. The Browns landed a very special quarterback in Sanders, who should adjust to the professional level and avoid making costly turnovers if he becomes the team’s starter. Again, we’ll have to see what happens in training camp.
Shedeur Sanders helped put HBCUs on the map:
Jackson State isn’t the flashiest college to many athletes looking to play at the Division I level, Shedeur Sanders, along with his brother Shilo and his father, Deion, helped put HBCU’s on the map by inspiring a good number of athletes to attend HBCU’s, including Travis Hunter, who originally committed to Florida State University, Deion Sanders’ alma mater, but switched his commitment to Jackson State.
When Shedeur Sanders was the quarterback for Jackson State, the school received a ton of media attention with his exciting play and his father being the coach of the program. Don’t sleep on HBCUs’ people; a lot of talented names have played for them over the years.
Leading Trinity Christian School to three straight State Championships:
Shedeur Sanders was a legend in high school. Sanders led the Trinity Christian Tigers to three straight state championship runs in 2018, 2019, and 2020 for the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.
Two of those years were when his father, Deion, was the offensive coordinator for the Trinity Christian Tigers. Sometimes, having a Hall of Fame father can be beneficial. Sanders got to play with his brother, Shilo, for a couple of seasons at Trinity, and Cam’Ron Silman-Craig for his entire time at Trinity, as well as at Jackson State and Colorado.
Shedeur has four siblings:
Aside from Shedeur, he has two sisters: Deiondra Sanders and Shelomi Sanders, and two brothers: Deion Sanders Jr. and Shilo Sanders. Deiondra and Deion Jr. were from Deion Sanders’ first wife, Carolyn Chambers, while Shedeur, Shilo, and Shelomi were from Deion’s second wife, Pilar Biggers-Sanders.
Shedeur has an incredible family, and each of his siblings is very athletic and successful in their own right with Shelomi being a basketball player, Shilo being a cornerback, who recently signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent, Deion Sanders Jr. owns his streetwear clothing brand called Well Off, and Deiondra Sanders has career in reality TV and sports management.
Shedeur shows great leadership:
No matter where Shedeur Sanders plays, he always shows great leadership. Shedeur showcased his leadership at the Alamo Bowl press conference by acknowledging he wanted to enjoy the moment with his teammates rather than skip it and focus on preparing for the NFL Draft. Unfortunately, Colorado lost to BYU 14-36 in the Alamo Bowl.
Despite that loss, Sanders’ teammates and coaches also acknowledged his leadership thanks to his confidence and ability to motivate his team. Back in December, Shedeur bought his teammate Jordan Seaton a Maybach. Yeah, people will call it showing off, but Shedeur said, “He protects the backside, so he had to get the Bach!” A very nice gesture from Mr. Sanders.
Shedeur became the first player to sign an NIL Deal:
As many know, many college athletes are eligible to make money on their names, image, and likeness, and Shedeur Sanders was the first college athlete to sign NIL deals when the NCAA allowed this policy to take place in July 2021. Sanders had NIL deals with Nike, Gatorade, Beats by Dre, Google, and the 5430 Alliance, to name a few of the deals under Sanders’ belt.
Sanders made roughly $6 million through NILs, and it’s pretty neat to learn that Shedeur Sanders was the first college athlete to usher in the NIL era in all of college sports. Even though Shedeur is projected to make $4.6 million from his first four years in the NFL, which is below his NIL salary, he does have a chance to expand upon that with future deals and sponsorships with other companies willing to work with Sanders.
Winning Multiple Accolades in College:
Even though Shedeur Sanders never won the Heisman Trophy, he did snag other awards during his collegiate career. Sanders won the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year with Colorado in 2024, the Southwestern Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year award and the Rookie of the Year award with Jackson State in 2022, the Jerry Rice Award in 2021, the Deacon Jones Trophy in 2022, and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award in 2024 to name a few. It wouldn’t surprise us if there’s an award named after Shedeur Sanders in the near future.
Shedeur has thrown a touchdown pass in 49 straight NCAA Games at the FBS and FCS levels:
As mentioned earlier, Shedeur Sanders broke a ton of records in college football. One of those notable records Shedeur broke was throwing a touchdown pass in 49 straight games, which is the longest streak in NCAA history, and would be the third-longest streak in the NFL. That’s a lot of touchdowns at the Division I level.
With Sanders drafted by the Cleveland Browns, hopefully, he can break through and throw more touchdown passes at the professional level in the future as the Browns’ starting quarterback. We can see Sanders forming excellent on-field chemistry with his new Browns teammates Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Shedeur Sanders almost played for Florida Atlantic:
Before Shedeur Sanders began his collegiate career, he originally committed to Florida Atlantic to play for the Owls over colleges like Florida State, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, to name a few. Sanders originally wanted to play at FAU because he wanted to play for an African American coach, Willie Taggart. However, when his father, Deion Sanders, became the head coach of Jackson State, Sanders flipped his commitment to Jackson State, and the rest is history.
Sanders became a household name for the Tigers and the Colorado Buffaloes when he and his brother, Shilo, transferred there. However, some of us would like to imagine what would have happened if Shedeur Sanders had played for FAU. Would he have made the Owls into a powerhouse? We’ll only have to imagine in our minds.
Shedeur is always influenced by his father, who coached him for most of his life:
As we all know, Shedeur Sanders has always been influenced by his father, Deion Sanders, who was also his head coach at Jackson State and Colorado. Because of Sanders being the head coach at both Jackson State and Colorado, Shedeur was given access to a wonderful knowledge of football from his father, as well as Deion’s connections to NFL Owners, coaches, general managers, and so on, even though Shedeur was drafted in the fifth round of the draft.
Not to mention, Deion taught Shedeur how the world works both on and off the football field, and the importance of planning long-term goals for the future after football.
Shedeur has a positive approach to the game:
Despite getting drafted in the fifth round of the NFL Draft and dealing with a prank call from Jax Ulbrich, the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, Shedeur has always remained positive about every situation he’s in on and off the football field. Sanders said, “That’s what it’s about. You can’t be up too low or anything. You got to be able to celebrate. When we score a touchdown, we celebrate for a little bit and now it’s back to, it’s time to work, it’s time to go. All it is, is a football game to me, and that’s how I view it.” That quote from Sanders is a great way to look at the game of football.
Every moment should be cherished on the field, regardless of the outcome. After getting drafted by the Cleveland Browns, Sanders celebrated by jumping into a swimming pool, ready to roll for the next chapter in his football journey. With a positive approach from Sanders, he’ll have a very strong, growing mindset, learn from his mistakes, and should create a very supportive environment at the professional level.
Shedeur Sanders Adjusts To Environments Very Well… So Far:
Throughout his football career, Shedeur Sanders has shown the ability to adapt and adjust to new environments on the football field. He successfully navigated his transition from Trinity Christian School to Jackson State and did wonders under his father’s system. Then, he transitioned very nicely to Colorado’s system in the Pac-12 and later the Big 12.
When Shedeur Sanders begins his career in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, he should transition well to the NFL level, thanks to his father showing him how things work in the league, even though he won’t be his coach with the Browns, as Deion Sanders signed a contract extension to stay with the Colorado Buffaloes.
As mentioned earlier, Shedeur has a brilliant football mind and will adjust to working with Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku very well in Northeastern Ohio. We’ll just have to see what happens when the Browns’ training camp opens up.
